Noise, noise, NOISE!

Anyone else NOT have a smartphone? I didn't put it on my Christmas list this year but I came to regret this move on Christmas morning when my cousins were showing off theirs.  You know that commercial on T.V. where the actors and actresses drop their phone in their coffees, throw their phone of the roof, and run over it with their car?  They do this in order to have an excuse to buy the newest update of a smartphone.  Yeah, well I was plotting a similar death for my phone.

Two days ago, however, I caught about three minutes of a show on T.V.  I'm not sure if it was 60 Minutes or not, but it was that kind of show.  They had four college aged girls give up their smartphones for a certain period of time (maybe a week? Hey, I only caught three minutes of this show!).  All four girls were roommates, so they took the challenge together.  I'm sure it doesn't take a genius to figure out that their conversations and relationships improved and their lives felt more free.  It turns out, they didn't really miss their smartphones.  It's no news flash that smartphones keep people distracted.  But all the same, it's incredibly important to recognize this every single day!  Smartphones are a distraction to life...and a dangerous one at that!  After this program, I was really happy to have my non-smartphone.

In a couple of his books, Matthew Kelly talks about the amount of noise in our lives.  We have so many things distracting us from living our lives - television, music, Facebook, and especially our smartphones that give us access to anything at any time.  All of these things are fine in moderation, but can be extremely detrimental when we allow the noise to block out our God.  Even when we only have 30 seconds of downtime, we check our phones despite the fact that we checked it two minutes ago.  And if we have 30 minutes to kill, we check our email and Facebook...for the eighth time that day.  We are afraid of being left out, of being disconnected.  Noise is a dangerous thing because we don't realize it's happening.  What if you spent that 30 seconds appreciating something in front of you?  What if you spent those 30 minutes reading a spiritual book or having a conversation with God?  It takes intentionality but the rewards are a better spiritual life.

There is so much noise in our lives that it becomes hard to hear the voice of God.  What noises can you turn off today?

Until next time,
Mel

Remember Yourself and Remember God

               As the end of the semester crept up and then attacked, I got fairly busy and side-tracked; as many others did I’m sure. This past semester has been my hardest I think with the level of classes, the course work, and amount of time everything required. I had two of the hardest classes for my major and a senior capstone on top of working 20-25 hours a week. I had never worked while going to school before and it was definitely a great challenge. I can appreciate much more the people who do it every semester or work full-time while taking classes. Not having much free time definitely isn’t great for your mental health, I believe. I got really stressed and missed out on a lot of sleep by the end of the semester. On Christmas Eve, I went to the hospital because I was having trouble breathing, my chest hurt, and my heart was racing. I was really shaky and faint. It was scary, and although I did not get a definite answer, the doctor thought it was probably due to stress. The effects haven’t completely subsided, as I’ve had these feelings again as well as felt weakened from it. I have doctor appointments coming up so hopefully I’ll find some relief soon, but it’s been a great lesson to me.

                My point is to not stress over things as much. Little things, and even bigger things, do not need to cause so much stress and anxiety. I find myself so back and forth with stress. Sometimes something happens and right away I think there is a reason that I didn’t get what I wanted or that it happened that way and things will work out for the best. I’ll accept what is happening even if I should be really upset, even for a short time. But then other times, like the end of this semester, I keep pushing myself and don’t even realize I’m so overworked and stressed. I never took time for myself to destress and wind down. People need to make time for things like relaxing, socializing, and even sleeping. Things aren’t worth getting so upset or stressed over. Things will work out. God will always see you through. He always seems to get you through the hard times so you come out with a smile.

                So as this new semester begins, or as the new year begins, take things as they are. Let things go. Take deep breaths every once in a while. Take time for yourself and don’t get too consumed in the trials of everyday life. Remember to live along the way. Remember yourself and remember God. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the small things, but it is worth making time for the more important things.

Peace and Blessings,

Katie 

Every Day Resolutions

As I was scrolling through everyone’s New Year’s resolutions on Facebook on New Year’s Eve, I started thinking. So many people make resolutions for that one day, and then once they return to their normal lives and seemingly forget about their pledges. What good are resolutions, promises to try to better yourself or the world, if you never go back to them? To me, they must be reflected on constantly to a) remind yourself that’s what you’re striving to do/be, and to b) be used to assess personal growth and achievements.

Needless to say, I was slightly put off by reading everyone’s resolutions. You never see them any other day of the year; we don’t get periodic updates describing the status of these goals; so why make them in the first place? It made me think about the whole concept of New Year’s. We reminisce about the end of one year and celebrate the beginning of another, but what if we did that for every day instead of every year? Each day is a gift; we need to make the most of each one. We should be making resolutions daily, not yearly. Every day we wake up is another opportunity to add something awesome to this world, to make someone smile, to become closer to God. We need to make the most of every day.

So that’s my resolution for this year: to live each day to the fullest, and to think about what good I can add to the world every day. To use every day as a chance to evaluate myself and determine how I can better myself. And that’s what I challenge you to as well: start every day with a goal, or multiple goals, of ways to improve yourself and the world. And make it happen.

“What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it.” –Unknown 

God bless, 

Kathe 

St. Jane Frances de Chantal

Today is the fest day of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, wife, mother, nun and founder of a religious community. St. Francis de Sales played an important role in her life after her husband died, leading her to found the Visitation nuns. 

St. Jane was born in 1572 to a very noble family, with her father being the head of Parliament at Dijon, France. However, when she was 18 months old, her mother suddenly passed away, leaving her father to be the main influence on her education. At the age of 21, she married Baron de Chantal, with whom she had 6 children, including 3 who died during infancy. At the castle, she restored the custom of daily mass, and taught her children the importance of virtue and piety, while engaging in many other charitable works. It is said that she made a vow that she would never refuse anyone who asked for alms in the name of Christ.

After 7 years of marriage, in 1601, Jane's husband was shot and died while on a hunting expedition. Amazingly, she forgave the man who shot her husband, and even acted as a sponsor for one of his children. However, even with all of her composure, she sank into a deep depression for about 4 months. She ran into additional problems, because her 75 year old father-in-law threatened to disinherit her children if she did not return to his home. 

When she was 32, she met St. Francis de Sales, who became her spiritual director. She explained to him that she wanted to become a nun, but he told her to delay her decision. However, after 3 years, Francis explained to her that he wanted to establish a place where women, whose health, age, or other considerations barred them from joining an already established community. They were primarily intended to exemplify the virtues of Mary at the Visitation (hence their name, the Visitation nuns): humility and meekness. The congregation began with three women when Jane was 45. She encouraged the local authorities to make great efforts for the victims of the plague and she put all her convent’s resources at the disposal of the sick. 

Much like St. Jane Frances de Chantal, we must prevent our zeal from becoming fanaticism. Furthermore, the love that we have must not degenerate into sentimentalism. We must be strong in faith, but, at the same time, patient, forgiving, tender, conciliatory. For example, a Christian must be firm like a father, but mild like a mother, just like St. Jane. St. Jane went through a great deal of suffering throughout her life, and even questioned her faith at times, but in the end she truly gave her life to God.

-Luke

Christmas Shoes

One of my absolute favorite Christmas songs is “Christmas Shoes.” For those of you that haven’t heard it, I recommend listening to it. It’s kind of a sad song, but it always manages to truly touch my heart. Every time I listen to it, I at least tear up and sometimes end up full-out crying (no judgments). It always manages to catch me off-guard; its message is just so strikingly clear and it always hits when I’m wrapped up in unimportant tasks. A lot of the other Christmas songs are about Santa, and the silly aspects of Christmas. While those are all enjoyable, sometimes I think we focus too much on all the material aspects of the holiday. Like the man in the song, we worry about getting the perfect gift for everyone on our list, putting up the decorations, making all the delicious Christmas dinner nomnoms. Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in all these details, but this song always, always reminds me to take a step back. When you think about it, those things aren’t all that important. Yes, everyone wants the holidays to run smoothly and be memorable, but when I think about my favorite Christmases my memories don’t go to the presents or the food. They go to the family who came in from Colorado, or the beautiful midnight Mass I attended. I think about the aunt who came over on Christmas morning, or how at peace I feel just being with my family.

This song brings us back to the true meaning of Christmas. Ultimately, Christmas is about loving others, and spreading love everywhere we go. That’s how it all started: with God’s gift of love to the world through His Son, with Mary’s selfless “yes” to God’s plan, with the innkeeper’s compassion in giving the only space he had left. In the song, the little boy is trying to give his mom a gift of love. He wants to make her happy; to make her beautiful if she were to go to Jesus that night. He’s not thinking about the gifts he wants to see under the tree, but about his mom and how he can show that he loves here. His intentions are so pure; his love so radiant and genuine. He exemplifies everything that Christmas is all about, and I think it’s such a great reminder. 

This Christmas season, I encourage you to think about ways you can spread love to others. It doesn’t have to be big; as Mother Teresa said, “It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters.” God doesn’t ask for magnificent acts every day; just smiling at someone or donating food to a food bank is a wonderful, loving act. How will you share the real meaning of Christmas? 

I hope everyone's finals are going well-I'm praying for everyone! 

God bless, 

Kathe 

That time of year....

Is the annual finals panic starting to set in for anyone else? I know it sure has for me.  There is always so much to do at the end of the term. Final group projects and studying seem to own every bit of our schedules.  Sometimes I pray to myself, “Lord, grant me the motivation to study, the time to sleep, and the wisdom to know which one is most pertinent at that moment in time.”

So as we are approaching exam week, remember that it will all be okay.  When things get stressful, I try to take a couple of deep breaths and let God be near my thoughts. 

Good luck to all as we enter into this week.  And remember, once we are through this week, we have break =)

Dana

Take Some Time

"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.  But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.  And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand.  The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.  And it collapsed and was completely ruined."
- Mt 7:24-27

It is the last week of classes and like many of you, I have a lot more stress than usual.  Final assignments, projects, and exams seem to fill my mind throughout the day.  With this high level of stress we may forget to make time, or just feel like there is no time to spare, for God.  Even though we may feel this way, it is important to be sure and set aside that time for Him.  Even though your brain says, “If I stop studying and working my stress will only increase,” trust me that spending some time with God will definitely help ease any worries you may have.

-Brent